Epoch Times reported that, as of the tenth anniversary of the earthquake in Sichuan Province, officials are still covering up their corruption and are still retaliating against those who choose to appeal. The article stated that those who were responsible for the shabby construction, especially of the school buildings, have not been held accountable; the official’s embezzlement of the rescue funding is still kept secret; and parents and the local people who reported on the officials or who wanted to appeal are still under surveillance. One woman told the Epoch Times that people were warned not to accept interviews from foreign media. She told the reporter that her house was damaged during the earthquake but she has no money to repair it. She said that the villagers were forced to sign a cash receipt showing an amount that was higher than what they actually received while the officials pocketed the rest of the money. A writer from Sichuan Province who wrote an appeal letter for these villagers told Epoch Times that he was saddened to see how those legal citizens ended up losing their freedom to speak and to appeal.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs issued a report that confirmed that, as of September 25, 2008, following the Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan Province, 69,227 had died, 374,643 had been injured, and 17,923 were missing. The unofficial number that the Bashu United League released stated that the death toll was at 300,000. Among them, 30,000 were students; most of them were children in kindergarten. During the earthquake, the schools reported having the most casualties because of the poor quality of the buildings. The government buildings, however, were found to be the most earthquake resistant.